Overview
- This week the national average for regular gasoline jumped to about $4.44–$4.48 per gallon while several local markets, including Chicago and St. George, Utah, have averages at or above $5 per gallon, according to GasBuddy and AAA reporting.
- Diesel set new national records near $6.51–$6.529 per gallon, raising single semi‑truck fill‑ups into the low thousands and squeezing truckers and small freight operators who say margins are being eroded.
- Analysts point to renewed Middle East fighting, repeated Houthi attacks on tankers and damage to Saudi export routes, plus strikes and damage to Russian refining, as the main drivers that have tightened global crude and refined‑fuel supplies.
- Regional refinery outages and logistics bottlenecks — notably in the Great Lakes and parts of the Mountain West — have amplified local price spikes because refiners are running near full capacity and distillate inventories are below normal.
- Higher pump and wholesale diesel costs are feeding through to freight and consumer prices, prompting calls for temporary tax or supply measures even as experts warn retail relief is unlikely until sustained de‑escalation and restored shipping routes lower supplies on a lasting basis.